to download PDF version - Toyota

SPECIAL FEATURE
30 years of market leadership for
Toyota South Africa Motors
Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM)
ended 2009 with a market share
of 23% for the year. TSAM’s total
domestic sales in 2009 were 90 701 units in a
total market of 395 230 vehicles. Not only has
TSAM been the overall market leader in South
Africa since 1980, but it is also the country’s
largest exporter of built-up vehicles.
South Africa felt the full impact of the
global financial crisis during 2009 and saw
total vehicle sales drop off sharply from the
533 387 units for 2008 to 395 230 units for
2009, a decrease of 25.9%.
Toyota dominates South African
market
Through 2009 the star performer in TSAM’s
market leading product line was the Hilux,
which ended 2009 on a high as the top
selling vehicle in South Africa. The Corolla
and Fortuner also performed well in the
passenger vehicle sector. The success of
these vehicles, based on a solid reputation of
reliability, durability, overall value for money
and low cost of operation, has seen TSAM
lead the market in vehicle sales for the past
30 years in succession.
This extended term of market leadership
is all the more remarkable as it has been
achieved in a sector of the economy
renowned for its cyclical nature. The motor
industry is easily influenced by volatility in
the social and business environments but
TSAM has stood the test of time in a rapidly
changing South Africa, not only as a domestic
supplier of vehicles but as a leading exporter
of vehicles as well.
TSAM’s success over the past 30 years is
founded on a combination of forward thinking
and the rigid application of a range of internal
and external strategies. TSAM’s market
philosophy has been formulated to ensure
that a wide-ranging product line-up provides
effective transport solutions, together with
the highest levels of customer support and
satisfaction.
6 Toyota South Africa Motors Sustainability Report 2010
TSAM’s market leading vehicles, the Stout (above), the latest Hilux model (opposite page, left) and the top-selling
Corolla sedan (opposite page, right).
Dr Albert Wessels founded TSAM in 1961. Celebrating the sale of the 100 000 th Corolla in 1971.
A new approach to the local market
From the outset TSAM set about changing
the outlook of the South African motorist
by demonstrating that there were better
efficiencies and customer support levels
available in a market that up until then had
been dominated by large American type
vehicles with largely centralised distribution
and service networks. TSAM took its effective
transport solutions to the people, with support
in rural communities that had not been seen
before. Today the company still has the
widest and most stable dealer network in the
country.
TSAM’s success was founded on its
reputation as a supplier of light commercial
vehicles with the one-and-a-half-ton Stout
an immediate success. This was followed
by the smaller Tiara and Corona pick-ups,
both derived from passenger vehicles, and
the two-ton Dyna. A significant breakthrough
came with the introduction of the Hilux in
1969, a pick-up that proved to be just the
right vehicle for South Africa at the time. The
Hilux has built on that success, dominating
the light commercial vehicle market for the
40 years since its release. TSAM has built in
excess of one million left and right hand drive
Hilux vehicles, which have been exported to
Europe and the rest of Africa.